Spring-hinge



H-(MoaeL) G. W. WARNER'.

SPRING HINGE. l 8

' No. 384,102. Patented June 5, 1888.

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UNITED STATES4 PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE W. WARNER, OF FREEPORT, ILLINOIS.

SPRING-HINGE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 384,102. dated June 5,1888.

Application filed August 12, 1887. Serial No. 246,806. (Model.)

To aZZ whom it 71mg concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. WARNER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Freeport, in the county of Stephenson and State of Illinois,have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Spring-Hinges,

which is fully set forth in the following speci-` fication, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l.is anelevation of a construction embodying my invention; Fig. 2, a sectionalview of the same, taken on the line 1 l of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a sectionalview taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4, a detail elevation of theupper spring and its trunnion detached; Fig. 5, a similar View of thelower spring and its trunnion; Fig. 6, a similar view of theintermediate connecting-piece; Fig. 7, a perspective view of the tube orcylinder detached and partly in section; Fie. 8, a detail plan viewofthe bottom trunnion detached; Fig. 9, a

side elevation of the same, and Fig. 10 a plan view of one of thesprings detached.

Like letters refer to like parts in all the figures of the drawings.

My`invention relates to spriughinges, and has for its object to producea hinge which shall be cheap and simple in construction and effective inoperation, and which shall serve to hold the door to which it isconnected in` either an open or a closed position, as desired.

To these ends my invention consists in certain novel features which Iwill now proceed to describe, and will then particularly point out inthe claims.

In the drawings, Aand A represent, respectively, theA two leaves of thehinge, connectedl in the usual manner by pintles a andv pintle- The leafA is provided at about the middle of its 4inner edge with a loop, slot,or opening, a2, and the leaf A is provided near each end of its inneredge with similar loops, slots, or openings, a3. l

B represents a tube or hollow cylinder prou vided externally with ahook, b, at about its .The inner ends of these coiled springs areanysuitablemanner.

connected to each other and to the tube B in Theconstruction which Iprefer for this purpose is that shown in the drawings, in which anintermediate connectingpiece, E, is employed, which has a body portionof a diameter equal to the internal diameter of the tube B, and isprovided with a slot, e, to receive a lug or projection, b', on theinterior of the said tube. This lug is of a length equal to the lengthof the body portion of the piece E, and from each end. of said bodyportion there projects an extension, e', of less diameter, to adapt itto enter the coils of the springs C and D. The slot c is of sufficientdepth and length to extend into these extensions e', and the inner endsof the springs Gand D are bent inward,las

shown at c and d, to enter the slot c. ABythese means the two springsare connected to each other and to the tube B at their inner ends, whileat the same time they are allowed free longitudinal play within certainlimits. At the upper end of the tube B there is provided a trunnion, F,having a body portion, f, of a diameter which adapts it to iit withinthe tube B. Above this body portion f there is a head or cap, f', oflarger diameter, provided with a hook, F', to engage with the loop a3 atthe upper inner edge of the leaf A. Below the body portion f of thetrunnion F there is an extension, f2, of less `diameter than the bodyportion and extending into the coil of the spring C, the upper end ofwhich is connected thereto in any suitable manner, preferably by forminga slot, f, in the said extension, into which the inwardly-bent end c ofthe spring O extends. At the lower end of the tube B there is a similartrunnion, G, provided with a body portion, g, enlarged cap 0r head g',with hook G and extension g2, slotted Y at g3. The hook G is connectedto the lower loop, a3, of the leaf A', and the slot g3 receives theinwardly-bent lower end, d', of the spring Ico the pintles connectingthe leaves. In other words, the springs will act to draw the leaveseither into parallelismwith each other or into the position shown in thedrawings, in which they both lie in the same plane. It will be at onceseen that when one leai` of the hinge is connected to a door and theother to the doorcasing the springs will act to hold the door either ina closed'or an open position, according as the door is swung beyond aposition. at right angles to the easing in either direction. The tubeand its trunnions serve not only to connect the springs to the leaves ofthe hinge, but they also serve to inclose the springs and to effectuallyprotect and conceal the same.

It will be observed that the tube is connected to Yits leaf by a pivotaljoint or connection, and that the trunnions are similarly connected totheir leaf, so that the tube -and trunnions, along with the springsarranged therein, will move with and independently. of the leaves uponthe line bisecting the angle formed by said leaves, and will thereforealways be equidistant therefrom. By reason of this construction a steadyand smooth action will be obtained and an equal force exerted on bothleaves.

Various modifications may be made in the details of construction andarrangement of the parts without departing from the principle of :myinvention. For instance, the inner ends of the two springs may beconnected directly to each other, or, in other words, the two springsmay be made from one continuous piece of wire.

"Various other changes will readily suggest themselves, and I thereforedo not wish to bethe independent tube or cylinder pivotally connected tooneleaf of the hinge and its end trunnions pivotally connected to theother leaf, of the reversely-coiled springs arranged within the tube,and having their inner ends connected thereto and their outer endsconnected to the respective trunnions, substantially as and for thepurposes specified.

2. In aspring-hinge, the combination, with the leaf A, having loop a2,and theleaf A', having loops a3, of the tube B, provided with a hook, b,to connectit to the loop a?, the trunnions F and G, mounted in the endsof the tube and provided, respectively, with hooks F' and G', by meansof which they are connected to the loops a3, and the coiled springs Cand D,

arranged within the tube B and having their inner ends connected to thesaid tube and their outer ends connected, respectively, to the trunnionsF and G, substantially as and for the purposes speciiied.

3. In a spring-hinge, the combination, with the independent tubepivot-ally connected to one of the leaves and the reverselycoiledsprings arranged within said tube and having their inner ends connectedthereto, of the trunnions, each provided with a bodyportion to iitwithin the tube, an inward extension to receive the coiled spring whichis connected thereto, and an outer cap or head provided with a hook, bymeans of which it is pivotally connected to the other leaf,substantially as and for the purposes specified.

4. In a spring-hinge, the combination, with the tube B, connected to oneof the leaves and having internal projection, b', of the trunnions F andG, connected to the other leaf, the coiled springs C and D, arrangedwithin the tube and having their outer ends connected to the trunnions,and the intermediate connecting piece, E, arranged between the innerends of the spring'` and slotted at e to receive the projection b andthe inner ends of the springs, substantial] y as and for the purposesspecied.

GEORGE W. WARNER.

Witnesses: v

IRVINE MILLER, CARRIE FEIGEI..

